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Christian Lawrence, left, and Ahmad Kebe, right, the sponsors of the \u2018Write Your Own Legacy\u2019 scholarship. (Photo provided with permission from Ahmad Kebe)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two friends and alumni of Florida A&M University\u2019s School of Journalism & Graphic Communications are teaming up with their alma mater to provide a scholarship for its current students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ahmad Kebe, 25, and Christian Lawrence, also 25, launched the \u2018Write Your Own Legacy<\/a>\u2019 scholarship that will award $2,000 to a current FAMU SJGC<\/a> student. Eligible students need to have at least a 2.5 GPA, an active enrollment, their resume and a personal statement detailing their needs and academic commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The scholarship will go directly to the winner, and they\u2019ll receive a check at a ceremony during homecoming week.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Kebe, giving back is an obligation. For months he wrestled with the idea before bringing it to Lawrence this past summer. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to give back specifically to the school of journalism,\u201d Lawrence said, recalling a conversation between Kebe and himself. \u201cI\u2019m down to give back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That ended up being the push Kebe was looking for, which prompted him to ask Lawrence to co-sponsor the scholarship with him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The two have pushed each other since their arrival\u00a0on\u00a0campus in fall of 2019, and it continues to this day. They see themselves as a dynamic duo, having lived together multiple times and participated in various campus activities together over their nearly decade-long friendship.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe immediately clicked,\u201d Kebe said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of my best friends. He\u2019s like a brother to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Writing Your Own Legacy isn\u2019t just about students within SJGC, it\u2019s also about leaving something behind for their families.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawrence had his newborn son in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEverything that I\u2019m doing now is for the betterment of my family and my son,\u201d he said. \u201cI gotta make sure they\u2019re straight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He said the goal is to one day have his son, Kairo, be part of the board. He said the hope is that in 50 years Kairo will be able to say his father and uncle\u2019s legacy was meaningful.\u00a0<\/p>\n Presently, it\u2019s not common for an alum to give back as substantially as the founders of Write Your Own Legacy have. Edward Thomas, 64, has worked as FAMU TV-20\u2019s station director since 2020 and says it\u2019s a rare feat for young alumni to give back so soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n He hopes it sets a precedent that other recent alumni can look to and find ways to give back that make sense to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey put their $250 and somebody else puts their $150, you look around and before you know it you\u2019ve got a pot,\u201d Thomas said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n He said it doesn\u2019t matter how many people give back, but that coming together to do so is just as powerful as giving on their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thomas also shared that this scholarship fills a variety of needs that students in the college have and appreciated that the requirements were listed in a way that\u2019s accessible for every student.\u00a0<\/p>\n Students in the program find scholarships like these extremely helpful.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI depend on stuff like that very much,\u201d said Kaylee McClendon, 20, a journalism student who transferred to FAMU this August. \u201cIt\u2019s very encouraging to someone like me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Giving back is important to her, and she hopes that one day she\u2019ll be able to support SJGC students too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christian Lawrence, left, and Ahmad Kebe, right, the sponsors of the \u2018Write Your Own Legacy\u2019 scholarship. 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